Child Protection in CAFOD: Policy and Procedures

Background to CAFOD’s Policy

What do we mean byChild Protection?

Child protection is about protecting children from intentional and unintentional harm within organisations intended for their benefit.

Who is this Policyfor?

This document sets out CAFOD’s Child Protection Policy and Procedures. It is for all staff and all volunteers. The Policy and Procedures are also available to others outside CAFOD who want to know how CAFOD works in relation to child protection.

Who does the policy apply to?

The Policy applies to all staff as part of their contractual obligations to CAFOD. It also applies to all volunteers who work with CAFOD or in CAFOD’s name.

Why does CAFOD need a Child Protection Policy?

To protect children

  • CAFOD’s Vision, Mission and Values statement sets out our commitment to the rights and dignity of each person; this includes children and young people. We are aware of the need to make explicit and visible our determination that CAFOD’s work and activities must promote the safety and security of children and young people.
  • Overseas, CAFOD works in partnership with a wide range of local and national organisations, agencies and networks. Some of these partner organisations have programmes of work with children or young people, usually working in very difficult situations, for example in post conflict countries or in regions with high levels of HIV/AIDS prevalence and large numbers of AIDS orphans. CAFOD recognises the need to ensure that child protection awareness and strategies are developed and active in international programmes.
  • In England and Wales we work in schools and with young people who need to be reassured about their safety and to know what they can expect from CAFOD.
  • Although no policy or guidelines can offer complete protection for children, following this policy minimises the risk to children of abuse and exploitation.

To protect staff & volunteers

  • All staff working for CAFOD potentially have contact with children, particularly overseas, often indirectly. In addition, as a staff member of a respected international faith-based agency, CAFOD staff have access to children by virtue of their occupation.
  • By implementing this policy all staff and representatives will have clear guidance on their own behaviour around children and what to do if they are told of or notice inappropriate behaviour on the part of others.

To protect the organisation

  • As a Catholic agency, CAFOD is aware of the particular need for the Church and all its agencies to demonstrate good practice in this area, including having a Child Protection Policy and ensuring it is implemented.
  • By implementing the policy CAFOD is making clear it’s commitment to safeguard children. The policy is a tool to enable us to move towards best practice in this area and to deter those who would wish to abuse from joining the organisation.
  • Organisations without protection policies, guidelines and systems are more vulnerable to false or malicious accusations of abuse.
  • Without proper policies, guidelines and procedures in place, allegations of abuse, whether founded or unfounded, can destroy an organisation’s reputation. This will have serious implications for fundraising (thus undermining an organisation’s entire portfolio of work, even beyond the scope of the particular project concerned).

CAFOD and Caritas Internationalis

CAFOD is a member of the Caritas International Confederation of official Catholic aid agencies, a global network of 154 Catholic relief, development and social service organisations in 198 countries and territories. The Caritas International Confederation also has a Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct, which CAFOD supports.

Other relevant codes and policies

CAFOD is a signatory to the Red Cross Code of Conduct, the IASC statement on the prevention of sexual exploitation in humanitarian emergencies, the SPHERE humanitarian charter and the HAP-I.

CAFOD’s Child Protection Policy: Core Statements

Modelled on the policy statement recommended by the Independent Review on Child Protection in the Catholic Church in England and Wales (The Nolan Report: September 2001).

CAFOD recognises the personal dignity and rights of children towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care and respect. CAFOD, and all its staff and volunteers, undertake to do all in our power to create a safe environment for children and young people and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse. CAFOD is committed to acting at all times in the best interests of children, seeing these interests as paramount.

We will do this by:

  • Setting in place, implementing and regularly monitoring and reviewing procedures to protect children and young people. These procedures cover CAFOD’s recruitment practice, staff induction and training, and management responsibilities.
  • Adopting a code of behaviour for all staff and volunteers.
  • Ensuring that any allegations of abuse are promptly and properly dealt with, victims supported and perpetrators held to account.
  • Ensuring that CAFOD works in close liaison with Catholic Church child protection structures at all levels and with statutory agencies when necessary.
  • Aiming to be an example of best practice in the prevention of child abuse and in responding to it.
  • Ensuring that child protection awareness and strategies are developed and implemented in overseas programmes.
  • Recognising the need to be both proactive and sensitive in dialogue with partners about child protection policy and practice, CAFOD will accompany and support partners in the development of appropriate policies and procedures.

For the purposes of this policy, CAFOD regards children and young people as those who are under the age of 18. CAFOD’s policy applies to all children with whom CAFOD has contact regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity.

CAFOD recognises that vulnerable adults may also be in need of particular protection, and recognises that the needs and concerns of this group may be different from those of children. CAFOD will extend this policy to include specific commitments relevant to this group when further research has been undertaken; until this happens, CAFOD intends that its child protection procedures will ensure a safe and protected environment for vulnerable adults in regard to CAFOD’s work and activities.

CAFOD intends that our commitment to the safety and protection of children in our international work should reflect the same values and principles that underpin our organisational policy and commitments.

CAFOD has in place other employment and organisational policies that complement the Child Protection Policy and help ensure the safety of children. These include the Equal Opportunities Policy and the Health and Safety Policy.

CAFOD’s context and work: principles of child protection

CAFOD has an organisational office base in London, a national office in south Wales, an office in north Wales, and a diocesan office in each of the 19 dioceses of the Catholic Church in England. CAFODalso has regional and country offices in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

CAFOD works extensively through parishes and local communities. It organises and participates in events and activities for fundraising and campaign purposes in which children are frequently involved alongside CAFOD staff and volunteers.

CAFOD believes that all staff and volunteers need to be aware of, and adhere to, our policy and commitments in relation to child protection regardless of the level of contact they have with children in their work.

The Schools Programme and Youth Programme

CAFOD has a Schools programme and a Youth Programme which directly involve contact with children and young people. The target group for the Youth Programme is aged 14-18, though many young adults over 18 are also involved.

  • In any CAFOD activity organised directly by CAFOD staff involving young people, a member of the youth programme team will normally be present.
  • CAFOD’s expectation is that contact with children and young people through these programmes should generally be supervised or accompanied, but we recognise that situations may arise where this is not the case for urgent or practical reasons.
  • CAFOD expects staff and volunteers working within these programmes to minimise the likelihood of situations occurring in which they are lone adults working with one or more children. If such situations are unavoidable, they should be anticipated and a related or responsible adult should be informed.
  • CAFOD also undertakes to ensure that all staff and volunteers whose work might involve such contact have completed additional recruitment procedures and have obtained a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).
  • CAFOD also welcomes many overseas partners to work with CAFOD supporters in the UK. Any CAFOD partners or other international visitors to CAFOD’s UK based work will be briefed on CAFOD’s policies and procedures in this area if their programmes whilst in the UK involve contact with children or young people. A member of CAFOD staff or a volunteer will be present in any work involving children or young people.

Young people working as volunteers

Young people under 18 may also become involved in CAFOD’s work as volunteers, either assisting in administration or in events or activities.

CAFOD has additional procedures that must be followed when young people are working directly with CAFOD staff or volunteers, either as a personal initiative or in groups, or accompanied by youth leaders or other responsible adults. These procedures include a Parental and Medical Consent Form and a disclosure form to be completed by any adult volunteers or staff members working with young people in these situations. These additional procedures, and a set of guidelines for CAFOD staff working with young people in informal setting, are contained in the Child Protection Toolkit for Staff.

Working overseas

CAFOD recognises that, while all children need protection,increased concern arises in relation to a number of issues specific to overseas work. These include: the existence of child soldiers, child labour, street children, children affected by HIV/AIDS, all vulnerable children and differences in cultural practices.

The vulnerability of children increases significantly in humanitarian situations where children are often one of the weaker, less visible and less heard groups of beneficiaries. For example, they may be vulnerable to exploitation or abuse by those in positions of authority at distribution sites or by members of the community wishing to gain access to resources.

In all its overseaswork, CAFODtakes seriously the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) and makes visible its belief that all children have the right to protection. This is reflected in CAFOD’s intention to work for the safety of children in programmes which CAFOD funds and to preserve and encourage the welfare of children in all its work and practices.

CAFOD recognises the need to be both proactive and sensitive in dialogue with partners about child protection policy and practice and to accompany and support partners in the development of appropriate policies and procedures. We will also seek to learn from the good practice of partners who are implementing child protection policies in their work. Therefore, we will strive to ensure our work reflects both of the following:

  • CAFOD recognises the need to ensure that child protection awareness and strategies are progressively developed and implemented in overseas programmes.
  • CAFOD recognises that our partners must make their own judgements about the development of their own child protection policy in direct relation to their context.

Promoting Good Practice

CAFOD aims to promote good CP practice, in order to create a positive culture and practice in relation to the safety of children in development and humanitarian programmes. We will do this in the following ways:

With CAFOD staff:

  • CAFOD will use Good Practice Procedures to support CAFOD Staff in dialogue with partners
  • CAFOD will ensure procedures/guidelines are in place for its staff who observe or are alerted to potential CP concerns overseas. These will cover actions to be taken and will identify appropriate CAFOD staff to contact.

With partners:

  • CAFOD will work to ensure there is a process of engagement with partners on child protection issues to ensure mutual learning and development of good practice.
  • CAFOD will strive to assist partners in the development of their policy and in strengthening their response to child protection concerns.
  • CAFOD will consider capacity building work for the purpose of developing child protection policies and procedures in partner organisations. This could include supporting CAFOD staff to work as facilitators in the development of this process.
  • CAFOD will explore and develop shared understanding with partners in relation to the UN CRC and customary law and practices.
  • CAFOD will share tools and standards with partners.

CAFOD encourages partners to:

  • Share their views and experiences with CAFOD staff and understand CAFOD’s standpoint on child protection.
  • Express a commitment to child protection issues by ensuring child protection policies are based on the UN CRC, as a minimum standard.
  • Commit themselves to examine child protection issues within their context, particularly those directly linked to their work.
  • Implement a child protection policy through their employment practices, programme/project planning and general awareness raising of staff and beneficiaries.

Whilst committed to dialogue with partners and shared learning, CAFOD will respond actively and appropriately if an allegation or disclosure of child abuse takes place in CAFOD funded overseas programmes. As far as possible, any such action will be discussed and agreed with partners.

The principle is that the safety of the child is paramount.

CAFOD Communications about Children

Staff should try and make sure that those who may wish to use images/stories of children cannot misuse or exploit them. Producing communications about children would count as indirect contact.

Wherever possible and appropriate we should acquire consent from the child’s parent/guardian, the child’s school or the NGO/Partner responsible for the child, to use the images and stories for CAFOD publications. However, it is not necessary to gain specific individual consent for those in crowd shots.

In addition, our communications about children should respect their dignity and identity and not degrade them. Therefore, when communicating about children we should also:

  • Portray children as realistically as possible and communications about children should not be sensational, or overtly sentimental.
  • Take care to represent the ethnic diversity of the children in areas where we work.
  • Try to represent children as individual human beings, with their own opinions and history.
  • Not normally use images of nude or partially clothed children. If staff want to use this type of imagery, they should consult programme staff (for the country concerned) and picture desk to discuss whether it is appropriate.
  • Be aware that certain children may need extra protection. For example, former child soldiers or those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
  • In many cases it might be appropriate to withhold or change names.

Definition of Abuse

Adapted from Child Protection Policies of other Catholic and BOAG agencies and NSPCC guidance in ‘First Check’.

Abuse occurs when adults or other children hurt children or young people under the age of 18, either physically or in some other way. In the majority of cases, the abuser is someone the child or young person knows well, such as a parent, friend or relative.

There are 4 main kinds of abuse:

Physical abuse is actual or likely physical injury to a child, such as hitting, kicking or shaking, where there is definite knowledge, or reasonable suspicion, that the injury was inflicted or knowingly not prevented.

Emotional abuse is harm done by persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection, such as degrading punishments, threats, bullying or not giving care and affection, resulting in adverse affects on the behaviour and emotional development of a child or young person.

Neglect occurs when basic needs such as food, warmth and medical care are not met, or when there is failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger, resulting in serious impairment of a child’s or young person’s health or development.

Sexual abuse occurs if a child or young person is pressurised or forced to take part in any kind of sexual activity, whether or not the child is aware of or consents to what is happening. Sexual abuse includes incest, rape and fondling. It may also include non contact activities such as showing a child pornography or internet based activity and viewing pornographic images of children. Sexual abuse may involve siblings or other family members, or persons outside the family.

Abuse may be current or recent or, in some cases, historical i.e. an adult may disclose sexual abuse that took place when he/she was a child. Abuse may be carried out by adult men or women or by siblings or other young people.

There are some groups of children and young people who are particularly vulnerable. These include:

  • Children with disabilities;
  • Children from ethnic minority communities who suffer from discrimination;
  • Children who are refugees or asylum seeking;
  • Children living in residential care;
  • Children in families in which there is alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence or mental health problems.
  • A significant group in some overseas countries is children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Although the statutory protection defines children and young people as those under the age of 18, care should also be taken of adults who are vulnerable through disability or other factors.

CAFOD’s Child Protection Procedures

1Recruitment of Staff and Volunteers

CAFOD’s normal recruitment and employment policies and procedures already provide the framework for good practice set out in ‘Safe from Harm’, the Home Office Code for voluntary organisations. CAFOD has reviewed and strengthened its policies in the light of ‘Safe from Harm’ and the 2002 NSPCC Guide ‘First Check’